“You know what to do if I don’t come back?� I whispered.
She nodded. I put out my hand and she took it in both of hers. I was standing at the time and she was sitting, and before I could stop her she bent and kissed my great hand. I could not trust myself any further. With a prayer, silent but none the less fervent, I seized the rungs of the Jacob’s ladder and slowly mounted to the level of the rail abaft the trunk cabin which served as a sort of poop deck. I had taken off my shoes before I did so, and save for the creaking caused by the swaying induced by my weight on the ladder, I went up without a sound.
I swung my leg over the rail, after having taken a quick look along the deck and having seen nothing. Before I disappeared over the side I turned and peered down through the blackness at her upturned face. I could see dimly its whiteness. I waved my hand to her and she waved hers in turn. She had the hardest part, that of sitting still, not knowing whether success was to attend our efforts or failure. The line that was attached to the boat plug was in her hand. The next few moments would determine whether she would rejoin me on the ship or whether she would cast off the painter, pull out the plug, and drift away with the young ebb.
I had that picture in my mind’s eye, too, and if I had needed anything to nerve me to the service of my mistress it would have been that. I had carried my cutlass in my teeth as I climbed up the ladder. I instantly shifted it to my hand, peering carefully about me as I made my way along the top of the cabin. The deck was in a frightful state of confusion. One of the deck houses had been blown in by the storm and pieces of wreckage lay all about. The starboard rail had been shattered along the waist. They had made little effort it seemed to clear up the raffle and the wreckage.
I made my way forward slowly and with all the softness of a great cat until I came to the break of the cabin. Everything was in shadow and darkness, of course, yet I thought I detected someone leaning against the starboard rail on the quarter-deck abreast the mainmast, looking toward the land. I stared and the longer I stared the more convinced I became that someone was there. I crossed over to the port side and slipped down to the quarter-deck. Silently as before, I made my way over the littered deck in the direction of the standing figure.
If the deck had been clear, I could have reached him without attracting his attention, but within a few feet of him I stepped upon a round marlinspike which slid under my feet and the effort to recover my balance aroused the watcher’s attention. He looked around suspiciously, but the next moment I was upon him. I did not know how many people were on that ship and I could not afford to make any noise. If I were to succeed I must deal with the enemy one at a time. I caught this man by the throat with one hand. The next instant I saw a flash of something in the air and I was just in time to seize his descending arm grasping his sheath knife.
I held him in an iron grip. He kicked at me viciously but I lifted him higher into the air and sank my fingers tighter and tighter in his throat. Thereafter I held him there waiting. God knows how I accomplished it, but I did. Presently I felt him grow limp in my hands. I had broken his wrist I discovered afterward, and had nearly choked him to death. I laid him down on the deck and with a piece of rope I lashed him hand and foot. I didn’t know whether he was dead or not but I couldn’t afford to take any chances. I doubled another piece of rope and thrust it tightly between his jaws which I pried open, and so left him bound and gagged.
I thought I had worked silently, but either I had made more noise than I fancied or else it had come time for them to relieve the watch. But for whatsoever cause it may be, as I was bending over him, a ray of light suddenly shot through the darkness. It came from the companion hatchway which opened on the deck from the low break of the trunk cabin, rising a few feet above the quarter-deck. I sprang to my feet and turned instantly, sword in hand, and the next instant three figures broke out of the light. The lantern they carried illuminated me completely. If I had had more time I should have jumped back into the shadows—I was quick-witted enough to think of it—but the time was lacking.
The next moment the three precipitated themselves upon me. They were half dressed, two of them had sheath knives and the third a cutlass. Fortunately none of them had brought a pistol. They were courageous enough, I will say that for them. And his daring brought the first man who had the drawn sword to his fate, for as he lunged at me I spitted him with my own cutlass. I drove the blow home to the hilt. The man went down like a ninepin, dragging the sword from my hand, and as fortune would have it he fell in front of number two, staggering him so that he dropped the lantern, leaving the deck in darkness save for the light which came from the after cabin. Being otherwise weaponless, I received number two with a mighty blow on the jaw from my clenched fist which temporarily accounted for him. Number three wavered indecisively for a moment giving me time to draw out my cutlass from the body of the dead man. The blade was broken off about six inches from the point, but nevertheless in a hand like mine it was a terrible weapon. I did not give him time to recover, for I sprang upon him. He thrust at me with his own knife half-heartedly, but in a moment I struck it out of his hand and sent it flying over the rail and into the sea.
“Now,� said I, “get down on your knees and beg for your life.�